WEEKLY TEXAN REPORT: JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS - SEAN GARZA - JANUARY 4, 2011

WEEKLY TEXAN REPORT: JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

Written by: Sean Garza
Date posted: 1/4/2011

Well, the Houston Texans have finally figured out what they can do consistently. Lose and lose often. After last week's loss and inability to shut down a running back in quarterback's clothing, the big board shows the Texans losing 8 of their last 9 games going into their season finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars who were still in the hunt for the AFC South title with a win and help from our good friends in Nashville. Unfortunately, it’s not your favorite country singer, although the Jaguars road to a possible AFC South title would make a decent country song.



 The Jaguars, playing without QB David Garrard and RB Maurice Jones-Drew, started former Buffalo Bill QB Trent Edwards and second-year running back Rashad Jennings. To best reflect their horrific 5-10 record, the Texans are usually unable to play a half or sometimes even a full game against good talent. Since the Jaguars were playing without two of their key starters, it made perfect sense that the Texans would play hard and win when it means nothing and lose when it means everything.

The Texans started the game the way they started the season. They ran the ball and ran it effectively. Arian Foster ran all over the Jaguars in the first half. He began the game with a 2-yard touchdown run. I believe he had over 60 yards in the first quarter. With Neil Rackers adding a field goal, the Texans led, 10-0, after the first quarter. The offense was running smooth and the defense was playing as good as they could against a backup quarterback and a second-year running back.


Of course, the Texans couldn’t keep that potent offense of the Jags down for long. Rashad Jennings rushed for a 3-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter to bring the Jags within three.  Derrick Ward put an end to that with a strong 35-yard run to put the Texans back up 10.

The defense then had another one of those “Defense? What’s defense” lapses as Jacksonville put 10 more points on the board before the half, including a Mercedes Lewis 7-yard touchdown reception to tie the score at 17. Houston did what they do best and failed to score in the red zone as the half came to a close and settled for a 33-yard field goal to take a 20-17 lead.

Normally, I’d say that the second half is usually where the defense goes to work allowing as many points as possible and where the offense mails it in. I was somewhat surprised to see the offense run and doing it smoothly. With the effective running game of Foster and Ward, the passing game flourished. TE Owen Daniels was rewarded by catching a 5-yard touchdown pass in the 3rd quarter.

The scoring then remained dormant until the 4th quarter when Arian Foster rushed for his second touchdown of the day with a 35-yard scamper. I say this loosely, but the defense did the rest by shutting out the Jaguars in the second half as the Texans rolled to a 34-17 win and kept the Jaguars from a chance to win the AFC South. Of course, the title now belongs again to the Indianapolis Colts.

With the victory, the Texans finished their poor excuse for a season with a 6-10 record. The Texans will be drafting 11th in the first round. Now, you would think that would be a good starting spot for a new head coach, however, it was confirmed Monday (1/3) that head coach, Gary Kubiak, will be retained as the head coach.

The casualties come on the defensive side of the ball. As expected, defensive coordinator Frank Bush was fired on Monday along with DB coach David Gibbs, LB coach Johnny Holland and assistant LB coach Robert Saleh. It has been widely reported that the Texans will be looking very closely at former Dallas Cowboy head coach, Wade Phillips. Phillips’s resume as a head coach is about as impressive as Kubiak’s and by that I mean not impressive at all, however, he does have a reputation of coaching and running a successful defense.

The immediate downside if it is Phillips is that he is primarily a 3-4 defensive coach and the Texans currently run a 4-3. There will definitely need to be a player personnel shift and the big key is either drafting or signing a free agent at nose tackle. He needs to be big and eat up offensive lineman. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Texans draft a nose tackle.


To sum it up, the Texans failed at their goal at making the playoffs. They have decided to bring back a head coach that has had one winning season in five total seasons. They have some personnel decisions to make if Wade Phillips is hired as defensive coordinator, however, do not rule out other candidates such as Marvin Lewis and John Fox.

This upcoming season is the true “put up or shut up” season for Gary Kubiak. There will be no more “first time” coordinators like Frank Bush to run the crucial weakness on this team. If Kubiak doesn’t reach the playoffs this upcoming season, then I can truly say that he needs to go. The talent is there on offense, but they somehow only manage to play a half of football. 2011 truly means “put up or shut the hell up”.

As this is my final Texan Report for the 2010-11 season, I want to say thanks to Lesbo and the entire HMW crew for giving me the opportunity to contribute to a growing and obviously successful blog. I hope you, the reader, enjoyed reading my articles as much as I enjoyed writing them for you. Thanks and can someone hurry up and fast forward time so OTA’s can start this weekend?


SEAN GARZA

HMW

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